America's 30 Most Expensive Cities With Great Weather Are All in One State
High living costs and great weather are two traits that spring to mind when Americans think of California, so maybe it’s no surprise that the Golden State dominates a new MoneyLion rundown of America’s most expensive great-weather cities. “Dominates” as in, all 30 cities on the list are in California.
To craft this list, MoneyLion first developed a list of U.S. cities with top-notch weather from multiple sources. We then folded in data from the U.S. Census, Sperling’s Best Places, the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Zillow, the Federal Reserve and AreaVibes.
Check out our key findings, followed by a city-by-city breakdown, sorted by cities' total living costs.
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Key Findings
Enjoying the nice weather while living in the list’s most expensive city will set you back almost $44,000 … every month.
Housing drives a sizable chunk of these cities’ exorbitant living costs. In nearly every city on the list, the monthly mortgage makes up 85% to 95% of the total monthly cost of living.
The most expensive spot on the list — Atherton — has a staggering average monthly mortgage figure of $41,000. Atherton and Rolling Hills each have median household incomes exceeding $250,000.
Atherton also tops the list for average single-family home values at $7.5 million.
Sky-high costs don’t necessarily translate into sky-high livability scores on AreaVibes. Some cities excel, including Cupertino (87), Mountain View (85), Palo Alto (84) and Stanford (84). Others rank considerably lower, with Rolling Hills coming in at only 56. Funny enough, Rolling Hills Estates has a much higher livability score with a much lower median income.
Silicon Valley is also well-represented with Cupertino, Menlo Park, Mountain View, Santa Clara, Stanford and Sunnyvale all making the cut.
1. Atherton
Livability: 79
Monthly cost of living: $43,671
Monthly mortgage: $41,108
Median household income: $250,000+
2. Beverly Hills
Livability: 76
Monthly cost of living: $33,019
Monthly mortgage: $30,639
Median household income: $132,977
3. Palo Alto
Livability: 84
Monthly cost of living: $22,905
Monthly mortgage: $20,458
Median household income: $231,101
4. Stanford
Livability: 84
Monthly cost of living: $21,621
Monthly mortgage: $19,256
Median household income: $75,208
5. Cupertino
Livability: 87
Monthly cost of living: $19,967
Monthly mortgage: $17,515
Median household income: $234,707
6. Manhattan Beach
Livability: 73
Monthly cost of living: $19,420
Monthly mortgage: $17,041
Median household income: $204,306
7. Rolling Hills
Livability: 56
Monthly cost of living: $19,145
Monthly mortgage: $16,667
Median household income: $250,000+
8. Laguna Beach
Livability: 66
Monthly cost of living: $18,641
Monthly mortgage: $16,415
Median household income: $143,843
9. Menlo Park
Livability: 83
Monthly cost of living: $18,316
Monthly mortgage: $15,837
Median household income: $210,025
10. Palos Verdes Estates
Livability: 68
Monthly cost of living: $17,070
Monthly mortgage: $14,660
Median household income: $242,014
11. Santa Monica
Livability: 73
Monthly cost of living: $16,257
Monthly mortgage: $13,945
Median household income: $114,885
12. Mountain View
Livability: 85
Monthly cost of living: $15,652
Monthly mortgage: $13,243
Median household income: $189,917
13. Sunnyvale
Livability: 82
Monthly cost of living: $15,344
Monthly mortgage: $12,944
Median household income: $186,170
14. Hermosa Beach
Livability: 72
Monthly cost of living: $14,909
Monthly mortgage: $12,527
Median household income: $166,442
15. Rolling Hills Estates
Livability: 74
Monthly cost of living: $13,418
Monthly mortgage: $11,010
Median household income: $191,895
16. Santa Barbara
Livability: 73
Monthly cost of living: $12,686
Monthly mortgage: $10,514
Median household income: $106,182
17. Santa Clara
Livability: 76
Monthly cost of living: $12,402
Monthly mortgage: $10,014
Median household income: $178,958
18. El Segundo
Livability: 69
Monthly cost of living: $12,154
Monthly mortgage: $9,865
Median household income: $150,737
19. Irvine
Livability: 76
Monthly cost of living: $11,979
Monthly mortgage: $9,830
Median household income: $136,719
20. San Clemente
Livability: 63
Monthly cost of living: $11,933
Monthly mortgage: $9,689
Median household income: $140,062
21. Ladera Heights
Livability: 69
Monthly cost of living: $11,871
Monthly mortgage: $9,488
Median household income: $167,065
22. North Tustin
Livability: 62
Monthly cost of living: $11,468
Monthly mortgage: $9,334
Median household income: $177,351
23. West Hollywood
Livability: 70
Monthly cost of living: $11,163
Monthly mortgage: $8,806
Median household income: $96,995
24. Fremont
Livability: 83
Monthly cost of living: $10,999
Monthly mortgage: $8,621
Median household income: $181,506
25. Redondo Beach
Livability: 79
Monthly cost of living: $10,935
Monthly mortgage: $8,593
Median household income: $150,245
26. Culver City
Livability: 73
Monthly cost of living: $10,863
Monthly mortgage: $8,542
Median household income: $117,389
27. Milpitas
Livability: 82
Monthly cost of living: $10,832
Monthly mortgage: $8,382
Median household income: $178,798
28. San Jose
Livability: 79
Monthly cost of living: $10,766
Monthly mortgage: $8,290
Median household income: $146,427
29. Seal Beach
Livability: 61
Monthly cost of living: $10,686
Monthly mortgage: $8,475
Median household income: $85,964
30. Los Alamitos
Livability: 68
Monthly cost of living: $10,640
Monthly mortgage: $8,451
Median household income: $97,155
Methodology: For this study, MoneyLion identified cities with great weather with data from Redfin.com, Sperling's BestPlaces, U.S. News & World Report, iroamly.com, 247wallst.com, howstuffworks.com, extraspace.com, FarmersAlmanac.com, listmyhomeandsave.com and grillio.com. MoneyLion then sourced total population, population ages 65 and over, total households and median household income from the U.S. Census 2024 5-year ACS. Cost-of-living indexes were sourced from Sperling’s BestPlaces. Using the national average expenditure costs for all households (sourced from the Bureau of Labor Statistics Consumer Expenditure Survey) for all consumer units, the average expenditures were calculated for each city. The average single-family home value was sourced from the Zillow Home Value Index for January 2026. Using the average-single family home value, assuming a 10% down payment and using the most recent national average 30-year fixed mortgage rate (sourced from Federal Reserve Economic Data), we calculated the average mortgage. Using the average mortgage and average expenditure costs, we calculated the average total monthly and annual cost of living for each city. The livability index was sourced from AreaVibes for each location and included as supplemental information. The cities were sorted to show the highest total cost of living first. All data is up to date as of March 13, 2026.
This article was provided by MoneyLion.com for informational purposes only and should not be construed as financial, legal, or tax advice.
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